A Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) will hereinafter be described in detail.
A system for providing the MBS includes an MBS media server, an MBS distribution server, at least one base station (BS), and at least one mobile station (MS).
In this case, the mobile station (MS) is a generic term of electronic appliances capable of wirelessly communicating with the base station (BS). The mobile station (MS) may include all kinds of devices having mobility, for example, a mobile station, a mobile terminal and a user equipment (UE). The MBS media server provides base stations (BSs) with MBS data, and performs MS authentication (or UE authentication) for MBS media or encryption key distribution. The MBS distribution server schedules MBS data applied to several base stations (BSs). Optionally, the MBS distribution server may be omitted or the MBS media server may schedule the MBS data. The base station (BS) receives MBS data over a backbone network, and provides the MS or UE with the MBS data via a wireless interface. In this case, the mobile station (MS) may receive the MBS data from the base station (BS).
The MBS for use in the above-mentioned conventional MBS system can be mainly classified into first and second MBS service types. The first MBS service type is a single-BS access scheme, which is capable of being provided by a single BS within a single cell. The second MBS service type is a multi-BS access scheme, which enables several BSs to construct one MBS zone, such that the BSs provide the same MBS.
For example, the single-BS access scheme enables one BS to equally give all mobile stations (MSs), which desire to receive MBS data, an arbitrary CID from among connection IDs (CIDs) allocated to a multicast, such that the BS is able to transmit the MBS data to the mobile stations (MSs). The multi-BS access scheme enables several base stations (BSs) contained in one MBS zone to provide mobile stations (MSs) with a multicast service using the same multicast CID.
The multi-BS access scheme provides several cells contained in the same MBS zone with the same MBS. Therefore, although a mobile station (MS) moves from one cell to another cell in one MBS zone, the mobile station (MS) can receive the MBS without a handover. That is, the mobile station (MS) based on the aforementioned multi-BS access scheme can acquire service continuity and a macro-diversity gain.